Small Ways to Feel Better When You're Depressed

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsLearn How Depression Affects YouPractice Identifying EmotionsExplore Ways to CopeTake Small StepsNext in Small Ways to Feel Better When You’re Depressed GuideWhat Does Depression Feel Like?

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Learn How Depression Affects You

Practice Identifying Emotions

Explore Ways to Cope

Take Small Steps

Next in Small Ways to Feel Better When You’re Depressed Guide

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Depressionis more complicated than most people think. It’s not just about being sad and it certainly isn’t about being lazy. But those are common misconceptions that sometimes prevent people fromseeking treatmentand getting the help they need to feel better.

Even when you’re experiencing depression, it can be tough to identify how you’re feeling and it can be hard to take steps to improve your mood and outlook in the moment.

That’s why we put together this article—to help you on your journey incoping with your symptoms. A better understanding of how you’re feeling and what action you can take can empower you to live your best life even when you’re feeling depressed.

Some people experience moreirritabilitythan sadness when they’re depressed, other people report feelings of guilt andhopelessness. And while some people report their emotions stay pretty constant, other people say their depression causes their emotions to shift pretty quickly.

Before you can make decisions about how to best cope with depression or what types of treatments you want to try, it’s essential to gain a better understanding of the emotions you’re experiencing.

Then, you can develop a plan for dealing with each of those emotions you’re encountering. What works to calm you down when you’refeeling anxiousmight not be helpful when you’refeeling unappreciated.

Research has also shown that depression can affect how people interpret emotions. One study found that depressed people were less able to accurately recognize happiness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise.Another study found that depressed people are good at recognizing sad facial expressions, but struggle with other emotions, including happiness and surprise.

Some strategies that can help you better identify what you are feeling include the following:

Identifying these emotional components you’re encountering can help you develop strategies to feel better sooner. And while everyone’s experience with depressive symptoms is a little different, developing a better understanding of the emotions you’re encountering can help you determine whichcoping skillswork best for you.

In addition to identifying your emotions, it is important to start taking steps toward changing those feelings. Treatments for depression are typically multi-faceted and can include medication, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes. Some self-help strategies that can improve your ability to cope include:

Your depression will try to convince you thatnothing will work to help you feel better. It’ll tell you there’s no use in trying any formal treatment, and any steps you take to improve your emotional state will be useless.

It may tell you there’sno sense in taking medicationbecause it won’t work. Or, your depression might try to convince you that you shouldn’ttalk to a therapistbecause talking won’t help. Consequently, you might not take any action that could help you feel better.

That’s what depression does to your brain—it makes you think unrealistically negative thoughts.

Try New Strategies

But, the truth is, you won’t know if various strategies work until you try them. You don’t have any take huge leaps to help yourself feel better (that’s likely to feel overwhelming when you’re depressed). Instead, you can try small steps to see if specific strategies help you feel better.

How to Combat Defeating ThoughtsA great mantra to create for yourself: “Let’s try.” Even as your depression tries to talk you out of doing something, remind yourself, you won’t know if it could help until you at least give it a try.

How to Combat Defeating Thoughts

A great mantra to create for yourself: “Let’s try.” Even as your depression tries to talk you out of doing something, remind yourself, you won’t know if it could help until you at least give it a try.

To do so, however, you’ll have to go against what your brain is telling you. For example, depression might try to convince you to just stay in bed all day. But staying in bed is likely to keep you stuck in a depressed mood.

Push Yourself

You might have to push yourself to get up, get dressed, go for a walk, or call a friend. While you might think none of things will help you feel better (or you might even think they’ll make you feel worse), getting active might decrease your symptoms a little if you’re willing to try.

Find What Works for You

Think of various coping strategies as experiments. Some of them may help you feel better and others might not necessarily work for you. But the more experiments you try, the better equipped you’ll be in identifying which strategies best reduce your symptoms.

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A Word From Verywell

While it’s important to have professionals who are helping you manage your depression, like a physician anda therapist, there are also many strategies you can try at home to alleviate your symptoms.

In this special series, we’ve gathered some tips and strategies for coping with the various emotional aspects of depression. If you give them a try, you might discover that they help you experience some relief from your symptoms of depression.

What Does Depression Feel Like?

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dalili MN, Penton-Voak IS, Harmer CJ, Munafò MR.Meta-analysis of emotion recognition deficits in major depressive disorder.Psychol Med. 2015;45(6):1135-1144. doi:10.1017/S0033291714002591Gollan JK, McCloskey M, Hoxha D, Coccaro EF.How do depressed and healthy adults interpret nuanced facial expressions?J Abnorm Psychol. 2010;119(4):804-810. doi:10.1037/a0020234Arlinghaus KR, Johnston CA.The importance of creating habits and routine.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018;13(2):142–144. doi:10.1177/1559827618818044Luo Y, Chen X, Qi S, You X, Huang X.Well-being and anticipation for future positive events: Evidences from an fMRI study.Front Psychol. 2018;8:2199. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02199Helgadóttir B, Hallgren M, Ekblom Ö, Forsell Y.Training fast or slow? Exercise for depression: A randomized controlled trial.Prev Med. 2016;91:123-131. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.011Escobar-Viera CG, Whitfield DL, Wessel CB, et al.For better or for worse? A systematic review of the evidence on social media use and depression among lesbian, gay, and bisexual minorities.JMIR Ment Health. 2018;5(3):e10496. doi:10.2196/10496Grey I, Arora T, Thomas J, Saneh A, Tohme P, Abi-Habib R.The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychiatry Res. 2020;293:113452. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, et al.Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):4790. doi:10.3390/ijerph18094790

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dalili MN, Penton-Voak IS, Harmer CJ, Munafò MR.Meta-analysis of emotion recognition deficits in major depressive disorder.Psychol Med. 2015;45(6):1135-1144. doi:10.1017/S0033291714002591Gollan JK, McCloskey M, Hoxha D, Coccaro EF.How do depressed and healthy adults interpret nuanced facial expressions?J Abnorm Psychol. 2010;119(4):804-810. doi:10.1037/a0020234Arlinghaus KR, Johnston CA.The importance of creating habits and routine.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018;13(2):142–144. doi:10.1177/1559827618818044Luo Y, Chen X, Qi S, You X, Huang X.Well-being and anticipation for future positive events: Evidences from an fMRI study.Front Psychol. 2018;8:2199. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02199Helgadóttir B, Hallgren M, Ekblom Ö, Forsell Y.Training fast or slow? Exercise for depression: A randomized controlled trial.Prev Med. 2016;91:123-131. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.011Escobar-Viera CG, Whitfield DL, Wessel CB, et al.For better or for worse? A systematic review of the evidence on social media use and depression among lesbian, gay, and bisexual minorities.JMIR Ment Health. 2018;5(3):e10496. doi:10.2196/10496Grey I, Arora T, Thomas J, Saneh A, Tohme P, Abi-Habib R.The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychiatry Res. 2020;293:113452. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, et al.Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):4790. doi:10.3390/ijerph18094790

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Dalili MN, Penton-Voak IS, Harmer CJ, Munafò MR.Meta-analysis of emotion recognition deficits in major depressive disorder.Psychol Med. 2015;45(6):1135-1144. doi:10.1017/S0033291714002591Gollan JK, McCloskey M, Hoxha D, Coccaro EF.How do depressed and healthy adults interpret nuanced facial expressions?J Abnorm Psychol. 2010;119(4):804-810. doi:10.1037/a0020234Arlinghaus KR, Johnston CA.The importance of creating habits and routine.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018;13(2):142–144. doi:10.1177/1559827618818044Luo Y, Chen X, Qi S, You X, Huang X.Well-being and anticipation for future positive events: Evidences from an fMRI study.Front Psychol. 2018;8:2199. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02199Helgadóttir B, Hallgren M, Ekblom Ö, Forsell Y.Training fast or slow? Exercise for depression: A randomized controlled trial.Prev Med. 2016;91:123-131. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.011Escobar-Viera CG, Whitfield DL, Wessel CB, et al.For better or for worse? A systematic review of the evidence on social media use and depression among lesbian, gay, and bisexual minorities.JMIR Ment Health. 2018;5(3):e10496. doi:10.2196/10496Grey I, Arora T, Thomas J, Saneh A, Tohme P, Abi-Habib R.The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychiatry Res. 2020;293:113452. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, et al.Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):4790. doi:10.3390/ijerph18094790

Dalili MN, Penton-Voak IS, Harmer CJ, Munafò MR.Meta-analysis of emotion recognition deficits in major depressive disorder.Psychol Med. 2015;45(6):1135-1144. doi:10.1017/S0033291714002591

Gollan JK, McCloskey M, Hoxha D, Coccaro EF.How do depressed and healthy adults interpret nuanced facial expressions?J Abnorm Psychol. 2010;119(4):804-810. doi:10.1037/a0020234

Arlinghaus KR, Johnston CA.The importance of creating habits and routine.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018;13(2):142–144. doi:10.1177/1559827618818044

Luo Y, Chen X, Qi S, You X, Huang X.Well-being and anticipation for future positive events: Evidences from an fMRI study.Front Psychol. 2018;8:2199. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02199

Helgadóttir B, Hallgren M, Ekblom Ö, Forsell Y.Training fast or slow? Exercise for depression: A randomized controlled trial.Prev Med. 2016;91:123-131. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.011

Escobar-Viera CG, Whitfield DL, Wessel CB, et al.For better or for worse? A systematic review of the evidence on social media use and depression among lesbian, gay, and bisexual minorities.JMIR Ment Health. 2018;5(3):e10496. doi:10.2196/10496

Grey I, Arora T, Thomas J, Saneh A, Tohme P, Abi-Habib R.The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychiatry Res. 2020;293:113452. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452

Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, et al.Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):4790. doi:10.3390/ijerph18094790

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